City schools use mobile library to keep kids reading in the summer

RICHMOND, Va. — When students can’t come to the school library, teachers bring the library to the students.

Oak Grove-Bellmeade is one of 20 Richmond schools participating in Reading Riders; mobile libraries, or school buses, packed with books.

"We are proud teachers at Oak Grove and we love our community and we love our students,” said Kisha Christian, a fourth-grade teacher.

When students can’t come to the school library, teachers bring the library to the students.

She said that reading can prevent what they call "the summer slide”; something a lot of parents don’t think about when they’re kids are off for the summer.

“It’s going to help them continue to be educated during the summer and not just sit there on their video games, fidget spinners,” Christian said. “It’s gonna help them continue to make sure that they’re building on skills they already have."

Kids from kindergarten through fifth grade can check out two books, read and return them, and be registered for prizes. It’s an incentive that helps them retain what they learned during the school year, and Christian said it seems to be working.

“To come back year after year and see the smaller kids with their older brothers and sisters being able to come back and get books and being exposed to new and different things,” Takia Archer, a school bus driver said. “It’s exciting to me."